Car-coupling



(No Model) l 'GAR GOUBLING..

No. ZQO.

Patented Mar. 18,1884.

n. mens. vmowwsfwf um 1" c (No Model.) C 2 sheets-S5861; 2'.

E C, HITCHCOCK.

A CAR CCUPLINC.

5% Patented Mm. 1C, 1884.

No. 295,2 `V

N. Pms Newham. wuhingum. D.;

Unirse Srafrns @PATENT @erica u ROBERT fHITCHCOOK, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters CAR-COUPLING.

Patent No. 295,250, dated March 18, 1884.

Application filed February 9, 1884. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern,.- A

Be it known that I, Bonner Hrroricocn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, Hampden county, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improveinent in Car-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

Theiirst part of my invention consists, inhrief, in a draw-head having a self-coupling hook hinged thereon to swing vertically, a hearing corner or shoulder in its lower mouth-surface upon each side of the hook, and a cranklshai't connected by an arm and toggle to the swing` ing hook, and arranged across the end ofthe car to have ahandle upon its end swing upon the side of the ear upon a track provided with stops, which, through said handle, regulate and indicate the position of the hook in the drawhead, and hy means of which mechanism a link in` the draw-head is tilted or released, or the link from an opposing draw-head permitted to couple itself. The second part relates to a device connected with the hinge to the ends of the toggle and crank-arm, whereby, upon the parting of the draw-bar from its fastenings, the toggle releases itself from the rock-shaft and its connections; and the third part of the vinvention relates t-o the .arrangement of the operating-handle relative to the ladder upon one end of the car, whereby the hrakenian, from the ladder, inay safely operate the handle, either hy hand or foot.

The construction and operation of my device are fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure I is a side elevation in partial sec` tion. Fig. II is the saine with the parts in a different position. Fig. III is a detail View. Fig. IV is an end view of a car having my improvements attached. Fig. V is a portion of a side of a ear, showing a part of the invention. Fig. VI is a top view of the draw-head with the hook. removed. Fig. VII is a top viewr of the hook. Fig. VIII is an end view of the same, and Fig. IX is a side elevation of the track for the operating-handle in place upon the side of a car.

B is the draw-head, slotted vertically to re` ceive the hook and permit it to swing freely between the walls of the slot and across the t mouth ofthe draw-head. The draw-head having the usual bell-mouth has said mouth enl larged at its apex and cutting into the lower surface, to leave a shoulder or corner, Z1, in said lower surface, for a purpose hereinafter described, and has a depression, h, in the upper front wallof its vertical slot, to receive and hold at times the hook from any upward movement.

C is the hook, hinged upon the transverse pin E at its lower rear end in an opening therein elongatedin the direction of the longer axis of the hook. The hook is formed to have an inclined front end, and the depression therein to receive the link or h ook properhas its surface to coincide, when in the position seen in Fig. ILwith the upper surface of the drawhead near its apex, and the hook is arranged in the draw-head to adapt it either to swing entirely above the upper surface of the mouth to intersect said surface, as shown in Fig. I, or to take the position seen in Fig. II, where the draft of the link retains it in said position. When no link F is in the draw-head, and the hook C is held in the position shown in Fig. II, an approaching link strikes the hook, pushes it back on its hinge to clear its upper corner from the notch 7i in the draw-head, and raises it to pass under, the hook falling back over the link, and the solid upper surface of the mouth of the draw-head receiving most of the shock of the impact. Upon a reverse movement of the link, the hook C moves into the position shown in Fig. II, and it will he seenV that no reciprocation of the link, when the cars are in motion, can operate to depress or raise the hook from this position, as the depression 1L and the shoulder b prevent the link from moving forward, while the surface of the draw-head mouth receives any backward thrust of the link. When the link is resting inthe draw-head in the position seen in dotted lines, Fig. II, and the hook C is swung downward from its place, (shown in the sanne view,) its surface above the link, intersecting the surface of the mouth, hears the link near its end'against the corner b, upon each side of the hook, and tilts the link up to any angle intermediate to its position shown in Fig. I. When the hook' is raised to the point shown in dotted lines, Fig. I, a link is free to fallout of or be removed from the drawhead.

v To operate a draw-head and hook so con- IOO structed, Vand from the side ofthe car, I hinge to the top of the hook, at g, a toggle, G, which is at its other end, at fi, hinged tothe end of a crank-arm, H, from a shaft, I, extending across the end of the car. The shaft I is hungin bearings at a point above the usual buffer-blocks, and is adapted to be rotated by handles J upon each end and lying close to the sides ofthe car. The arm H is sleeved upon the shaft I, between the collars 'n n, bolted to the shaft and contiguous edges of sleeve m, and collars n n are `formed into a clutch, which permits alim-- ited free motion to the crank-arm H upon its shaft, and which, upon a partial rotation of the shaft I in either direction, rocks the arm H by making it -fast to the shaft.

Beneath the handles J, and bolted to the sides of the car, are the tracks K, provided with stops d d1 d upon different points upon its surface.

The handles J may have a spring, to cause them to hug the surface of the track with the required friction; or the track, of the form of a bar set off from the'car, may be compressible, to supply the required friction; or a spring may be formed to both, it only being necessary that the handle, at any point of the swing given it to govern the angle of arm H, should retain said position upon its track until moved by the brakeman.

In practice I form the tracks K of a bar of the form of a quadrant, as seen in Fig.V, having the hinge of the handle J as a center, and upon the opposite ends arrange the stops d d, against which the handle J is brought at the extremes of its swing,while centrally arranged is a stop, d1, formed by a depression of the trackfsurface, as seen in profile, Fig. IX.

The stops d d1 d, the handles J, and the clutch to arm H upon shaft I are so relatively arranged that when the handle J is in the stop d1, as seen in Fig. II, the hook C is in position for self-coupling, as well as in its operative position when the cars are moving.

'asin self-coupling.

From this position of handle J its movement to that indicatedin dotted lines, Fig. I, raises the hook C, to enable a link, F, to be withdrawn, while its movement in the reverse direction, as also seen in Fig. I, tilts up the outer end of the link to any required angle to meet the draw-head of an approaching car.

It will be seen that when the handle J is in the stop (ZI, and the hook C in what may be called its normal77 position, if it is desired to remove a spare link, thetoggle G may be grasped as a handle to lift the hook, the free motion allowed crank-arm H at its clutch permitting this movement to the hook as well The handles J, from their position upon their tracks, indicate the position of the hook in the draw-head, and the stops enable thehandles to move the hook into all required positions without care.

Heretofore' the operation of the couplermanually from the car itself has been from the top, either by rods, chains, or similar means, and the operator has been subject to the danger of being thrown between the cars, either by the shutting off of steam, or by the sudden starting of the train, while, now, to obviate this danger, I combine with the ladder upon one end of the car the operating-handle J, by arrangingit relatively thereto as seen in Figs. IV and V, by means of which arrangement the brakeman can, by either hand or foot, while holding securely to the ladder, operate the handle to give it all of its movements, and is.

also inposition to give thereqnired signals to the engine-driver. Upon the fastenings of the draw-bar D parting, as frequently occurs, the draw-head and all of its attachments are tak en from the car; but by the device as shown in Figs. I and III the toggle alone is carried with the draw-head.

A segmental bar, L, having the Vhinge 'i for its center, is secured to either the toggle G or arm H, and has its free end pass through a staple, Z, fast to the other, while the end of the arm or toggle to which the staple is' fast is forked, to pass over the rivet making the hinge, so that when the two arms form a certain` angle to each otherthey are free to part.

Now, having described myinvention, what I claim isl. Thewithin-described improved car-coupling, consisting of a draw-head, B, having a vertical slot bisecting'its month, a depression, h, in the front wall of said slot and immediately above the upper mouth-surface, a shoulder, b, in the lower surface of the mouth, a hook, C, hinged at its rear end within the slot of the draw-head, within an elongated opening, having an inclined front end and a hook-depression adapted to holdthe link, and means, substantially as shown, for suspending the hook upon its hinge to have its front upper corner bear in the depression h,Qt-he upper surface of its hook-depression coincide with the upper wall of the draw-head mouth, and for swinging the hook upward and downward from said position, while permitting it an independent upward swing,all operating as shown and described.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination, withA a draw-head, B, and self -coupling hook C, adapted to swing in both directions from a self-coupling position, of a shaft, I, hung in bearings across the end of the car, provided with handles, as J, upon its ends, arranged to swing upon the sides of the car, a track, K, arranged upon the side of thev car and provided with stops d d1 d, and adapted to form a friction-surface with handle J, a toggle, G, hinged to the hook C, a crank-arm, H, hinged at one end to the toggle G and sleeved upon its other to shaft I, and a clutch formed upon the sleeve of arm H and shaft I, and adapted to permit an upward movement to hook O, to self-couple, while becoming operative to raise o'r depress the hook through the rotation of 13o shaft I.

3. The combination and relative arrangement of a swinging'operating-handle, J, and

with the end ladder of acer, whereby from the of toggle G and arm H, one of which `s proladder the handle upon the side of the ear is vided with a forked end, all as shown and deadapted to be operated either by one` hand or scribed. l

one foot. ROBERT HITCHCOCK. 5 1. In a. oar-coupling, the release-joint con- Wtnesses:

ssting of, the segment L and staple or eye Z, R. F. HYDE,

arranged and combined with the hinged ends N. A. LEONARD. 

